Naruto: Pieces
by Ehskey
Summary: Naruto at a young age has always been out casted by the other villagers. But a new face to him comes and adopts sort of a mother like nature to Naruto.As Naruto grows up he makes some new friends and discoveries along the way. A/U
1. Chapter 1: New Bonds

**A/N:** So I made a HUGE improvement to this chapter, fixing up the conversation Anko & Naruto have when they first meet, and adding about 1,000 more words. For those who don't know I have Naruto's age set to 6 and Anko's 18. Please leave some reviews, and no one word reviews, but reviews that can help improve my writing, and keep me inspired to keep going. If you have any idea's or suggestions just mssg me.****

Naruto: Pieces  
Chapter 1: New Bonds

Naruto lay lifeless in a field of grass staring up into the sky as its colors slowly turned into a reddish-orange. His cheeks were bruised and he had a cut just above his eyebrow. He had helped a boy that was being jumped by three other kids in the village earlier.

**-Flashback-**  
_  
"Hey!" yelled the young Naruto, "Three on one is a but unfair isn't it?"_

The kids stopped their beating on the helpless child and turned their attention to Naruto.

"Why don't you mind your own business freak."

Naruto cringed at the remark. He felt the anger start to raise up inside him.  


"_DON'T EVER CALL ME A FREAK!"_

------------Moments later_-----------_

Naruto rubbed his fist against his nose smearing blood. The three kids picked themselves off the floor and ran limply.

"Thats right you better run!"He yelled.

Naruto then turned around to the one child that was on the floor curled up. He extended out his arm to offer help off the ground. The child saw his heroes face and crawled up against the wall in fear.

"It's ok im not going to hurt you." Naruto said reassuringly, extending out his hand farther.

The kid flinched and ran off in horror as Naruto stood in confusion as of why he was scarred of him.

**-End of Flashback-**

He closed his eyes and felt a cool breeze of air sweep across the field. The peace and quietness was gratifying. Feeling a presence in front of him he leisurely opened his eyes to find a young girl standing in front of him. Her hair was a dark purple color and was tied up in a pony tail.

"Sorry bout' that." She said with a grin on her face. Naruto, startled by the girl's immediate niceness towards him, sat up. The purple haired girl leaned over with one hand on her hip and the other with a Dango.

"Dango?"

Naruto stared at her for a moment, lost and confused at what is happening.

_'What is this? Some kind of joke or something?'_ Thought Naruto.

"DANGO?!" She asked again raising her tone.

"Um, N-No thanks."

The girl shrugged,"Ah suit yourself then."

Naruto watched in awe as she engulfed the Dango. The young girl plopped herself next to Naruto and closed her eyes and let the cool breeze blow through hair.

"This is a nice spot." She said as she admired the sunset. "And a nice view."

Naruto gazed upon the mysterious girl, something about her made him feel comforted,warm, and relaxed. Catching Naruto off guard the girl through her stick that once held her Dango at Naruto's forehead with deadly accuracy.

"You know it's not polite to stare."

"I know, I j-just-"

"Just what?" She said as she angrily raised voice . "Better not be getting any sick idea's up in that lil' perverted head of yours."

Naruto's cheeks slightly turned red as he protested, "Im no perve!"

"Ya ya, thats what they all say." She said as she waved her hand in the air.

She smiled slightly and laid her back on the grass and crossed one knee over the other. As she did what little of sun that was left out bounced off her neck band and hit Naruto in the eyes. Naruto itched his head away from the glare that hurt his eyes. The girl stuck her tongue out jokingly.

"Your a shinobi?" He asked curiously.

"Yup."

"Chuunin?"

She let out a sly laugh, "Nope."

"Jounin?"

"Yup."

"Thats cool." Naruto said as he admired the headband.

"I guess." she replied as she took another Dango out of her bag.

"So what are you doing out here then? Shouldn't you be out on some secret mission?"

"Today's my day off." she said cheerfully as she plucked a Dango of the stick.

"Oh......so why are you out here?"

"I don't know, why are you here?" She shot back.

Naruto shifted is head and stared at the cold grass he was sitting on.

"... I don't know..." he replied softly, the memory of the boy he had helped out earlier playing into his mind.

"Just wanted to be alone?"

"I guess..."

"Hmm."

The young girl stood up and brushed herself off. Naruto felt something warm touch his head and looked up. The girl was ruffling his golden hair gently. For some reason this person made Naruto feel...different. For most of his life he was always hated and feared by the other villagers. Making him feel like an outcast of society. But she acknowledged him, and showed him affection in some way. Something that he isn't very used to.

"You aren't scared of me?"

The purpled hair girl burst into laughter, causing her to loose her balance and fall over.

"A little shrimpy guy like you?" she declared as she wiped her eyes from tears. She paused for a moment and looked at Naruto who had an angry face on. She got back up and poked Naruto in the forehead.

"Theres no reason to be scared of some shrimp like you." she said smiling.

"Really?!" Naruto exclaimed.

The girl gave him a reassuring nod.

"Then why do I always feel like im always feared by the people in the village?"

Putting a finger on her lip, looking as though she doesn't know the reason why, but knowing very well why the villagers dislike him,"Hmm, don't know, people are just weird like that."

Naruto looked into the sky once more, it was dark now and the only source of light was the moon that beamed over them.

She stared at Naruto with compassion, _'This kid ain't so bad for having a demon sealed up in him. He kinda reminds me of me. '_ Thought the girl.

Being taken by her Sensei to only be tossed away like trash. Just thinking about it made her angry, curling her hands into fists, her nails digging into her skin.

"Hey miss, your bleeding."

"Uh?" She looked at her hands that had tiny punctures from her nails. She wiped her hands on her shirt and looked back at Naruto.

"So do you have a place to stay? Its getting kinda late."

The girl knew where the young boy had lived, in a shit hole apartment around the east side of the village.

Naruto shocked at her proposal, just stood still as a scarecrow.

"Well c'mon I don't got all day." She said impatiently.

Naruto thought about it for a moment, and thought about his place, and how lonely it was. He nodded to her proposal, a bit confused but happy.

"Well come on I guess I got some room for a little shrimpy like you." she said as she started walking.

Naruto stood still and dumbfounded. Astonished that some one would have a conversation with him, let alone let him stay with them at their house.

"Hey! You gonna sit there all day or what?"

Naruto snapped out of it and ran after the girl. As he caught up with her he started to pace alongside her. As they entered the village Naruto realized something, he didn't even know what the girls name was.

"Hey."

"Hm?" She grunted quietly, still looking forward.

"Uh, I never got your name."

"Heh, Its Anko, Mitarashi Anko."

-**Next Day-**

Anko awoke slowly up from her deep slumber sleep. She sat up in her bed yawning loudly and rubbing her eyes with her knuckles. Pulling the blankets off of her and she swung her feet over her bed and put on her slippers. Getting up she made her way to her balcony sliding door, grabbing her coat that lay on the floor and slid the door open, as she did cold air slapped her in the face and body. She covered herself with her coat engulfing herself in a shield of warmth against the wind. She leaned over the railing and stared down upon the busy people below her then leaned back. She looked over her shoulder into Naruto's room.

The balcony had stretched from Naruto's room all the way to the living room. Not bad for an apartment considering the price she got it for, which in turn made her flat dead broke. But it had a nice view of the village and it was an offer she couldn't refuse nor pass up on. Something about beautiful views just made her ecstatic.

She watched as Naruto restlessly try to get into a comfortable position. Flipping and turning for a while until he finally stopped. Anko smirked slightly at the sight and noticed something on his stomach.

"Is that the-"

"The Shiki Fuujin." Someone finished for her.

Startled, Anko looked up to see an ANBU member sitting casually on top of her roof reading a book. The cover read "_Icha Icha Tsurekomiyado". _His face was hidden by some cat-like feature mask with red lines underneath the eyes and three narrow streaks of red on each side of it's cheeks.

"What's an ANBU doing around here for?"

The man quietly kept reading through his book as though as he didn't hear Anko.

"Hey!" Yelled Anko furiously, "You listening to me?!"

The man lowered his book and looked at Anko, "Hm? You say something?"

Anko's eye twitched from disbelief and irritation.

"So, I'm assuming you know who that boy is?" Asked the ANBU Nin as he returned back to reading his book.

"Ya, I know who he is," Anko spat in annoyance, "But you still haven't answered me. Whats an ANBU doing around here?" She asked again.

"Simply enjoying the view."

"On my roof?"

"Yup."

_'Just who is this guy?'_

The man let out a soft sigh and put the book down, "And yet you take him in?"

"Yea, so?"

"Most people wouldn't do that."

"I'm not like most people."

"I can see that," Closing his book he stood up and it tucked away, "Well time to get back and give my report now."

"Report?"

The ANBU Nin waved his hand in goodbye then disappeared in a cloud of white smoke. Leaving a puzzled Anko alone on the balcony.

"What are you doing out here?"

Anko turned around to see Naruto standing half asleep with a blanket clutched in one hand and the other covering his mouth as he yawned.

"Just getting some fresh air."

"Oh."

A low growl came from Naruto's stomach making Anko smile.

"Sounds like your hungry."

"Yeah."

"C'mon," She said as she flicked him in the forehead, " I think I have some stuff to eat."

Walking inside her stomach gave a low growl, '_At least __I_ _Hope I do._'

Opening the refrigerator to her dismay, all there was a single container covered in foil. She grabbed it and lifted the foil and immediately closed it. What was inside that container, she did not know, and would rather prefer to not know. Replacing the it back into the refrigerator she went to the cupboards and searched through all of them.

"I can't believe I don't have a single thing to eat." She moaned.

Naruto watched as Anko morn about not having food and looked at one unopened cupboard. His child curiosity got the better of him and opened it. In the cupboard were two hard plastic cups of noodles.

"Ramen."

Anko stopped what she was doing and looked at Naruto.

"Ramen?" She repeated. Looking into the cupboard she saw the two cup of noodles, a bit dusty but other than that they looked fine.

Anko was surprised by his finding,"Heh, good job Naruto, I forgot about those."

Grabbing the two cups she opened them and speculated that they were alright to eat. She got some water and heated it up with her flame jutsu. The jutsu is mainly used for offensive type situations but for this, she made an exception. By controlling how much chakra she put into the jutsu she could control the size of the flame and not burn down the whole apartment complex.

Naruto was watching Anko do her stuff and he was fascinated. After she was done she served Naruto and herself as they sat in the living room couch. The both of them made loud slurping noises as they enjoyed the ramen.

"You like it?" Asked Anko who was done eating.

"Mhm." He hummed as he ate more. "Can you teach me that?"

"What? How to make Ramen?"

Naruto shook his head, "No that fire thing."

"Not everyone can learn it."

Naruto felt a bit disappointed by the news, and Anko could see it.

"But we can try."

A big grin came across Naruto's face, "Really?!"

"Ya ya but you need to finish your food before we do anything."

Naruto put his chop sticks down and basically drank everything of what was left.

_'This kid is something else.'_


	2. Chapter 2: BlindSided

**Naruto: Pieces  
Chapter 2: Blindside**

Anko sat outside the Hokage's office sitting impatiently. She had just fallen asleep on the couch when a Messenger Nin knocked on her balcony door with a message from the Hokage. If it wasn't for the words 'The Hokage wanted to see you' she would of beat the living crap out of the poor guy just for waking her up. The door next to her opened and she stood up. A boy exited the room and looked at Anko and gave a low grunt as he walked away.

"Ill give you something to grunt at you little-"

"Anko." A voice called. "Come on in."

Anko looked at the old man sitting in the room and then back at the boy who was halfway down the hall. She had noticed a symbol on his back from when he first came out the room but didn't really pay attention to it at first. But looking at it again.

_An Uchiha huh? _She thought as she walked into the dimly lit room._ Wonder what he's doing here._

"Sit down." The Old Man said calmly as he gestured toward the chair sitting in front of his desk.

Sitting down in the chair she glanced around the room."Whats with the candles?" she asked. "Its very 'Sentimental'" Smirking at her own remark.

"Haven't gotten around to changing the light bulb is all." He said as he took of his and placed it on his desk. "Besides, I kind of like it like this." he said smiling.

_Thats not weird considering a young boy just came out your office. _She cringed at her own thoughts and the fact that the Old Man was still smiling at her made her a bit uneasy.

Diverting her eyes from his she leaned back in her chair with one arm hanging over the back of the chair. "So whad' you want? Calling me here so late it, must be important. I was finally able to fall asleep."

She had been trying to teach the young Naruto how to do some simple chakra molding. He clearly wasn't a quick learner. The little brat kept waking her up every time she dosed off into sleep.

"I see you've got your handful."

"Hmm not really." she lied. Naruto had stayed at her place for a few days and what was supposed to be a one night thing turned into a couple nights. Not that she didn't mind, the boy kept her company after all, and it seemed to make Naruto happy that he had someone to finally talk to. So she said he could come over anytime he wanted to, and he took her up on her offer and came over just about everyday when she wasn't out on a mission.

There was a brief pause in their conversation. Then Anko broke the silence.

"So?"

"So Ive been told that you have met Young Naruto."

"Who told you this?"

"Does it matter?"

Of course a good amount of people could have told him that. Anko had been outside with Naruto a couple of times walking around the village. As they walked by the villagers she had heard whispering commotion and even got some 'Crazy' looks from them. But she could care less of what they thought.

"Well no, but I think people should mind their own business before they stick their nose in someone else's. But yea, I bumped into him a few nights ago outside the village so I figured I'd let him stay at my place for the night. Not good for a little kid to be walking around by himself that late."

The Old Man nodded his head in agreement. "It looks like he's taking a liking to you." Sitting quietly he thought for a moment. "I have a favor of you to ask."

Anko perked up in interest. "I'm listening."

The Old Man let out a sigh and shot the question. "Would you watch over Naruto?"

Anko fell off her chair, blindsided by the question. "WHAT?"

"It'd only be temporary."

"Only temporary... Hokage-sama." She let out a frustrated sigh. "Raising a kid isn't just temporary. You can't just toss him away once he's all grown up."

He took out his pipe and a stick match. Strucking the match he lit the pipe and inhaled.

"Naruto needs someone to watch over him. I won't always be there to protect him, plus the both of you could keep each other company."

Anko sat in silence thinking for an excuse. "I'm not exactly the 'Mother Figure' type."

"Who says you have to be a mother to the boy? Just think of it as being his guardian."

"Theres gotta be better people to do this." she said helplessly. "What about his grandfather?"

"He hasn't been seen since a few weeks after the attack of the Kyubi." he said as he put his pipe down.

Anko let out another low frustrating sigh. "His mom then?"

"Died giving birth."

Resting her chin in her palm she had a silent debate in her head. Part of her felt sorry for the boy, both parents deceased, a demon sealed up inside of him and not knowing it and being shunned by the villagers because of it. Another part of her was saying 'Don't do it. Don't you dare do it. You don't know what your getting yourself into. Caring for some annoying kid you barley know. You'll regret it'. She closed her eyes and cleansed her mind of all thoughts.

"You know," she said smiling, "I felt bad for the kid so I just let him stay with me for the night. If I would of known this was going to happen I would of thought about it twice before actually doing it."

"Hmm?" hummed the Hokage interestingly waiting for her response.

Scratching her head as she stood up she made up her mind. "Ehhhhh... I'll do it. Even though I already am kinda taking care of him in a way."

Sarutobi smiled. "Good."

"Yeah yeah, but you owe big time for this."

There was a sound of a single knock against the door and Sarutobi picked up his pipe and started smoking.

"Come in."

The door opened and a man in a mask walked into the room. Something about him was strangely familiar to Anko.

"You wanted to see me Hokage-sama?"

"Yes. Would you excuse us Anko? We will talk again sometime."

"Yea, sure."

Anko made her way to the doorway and took one last look at the man hidden behind the mask. The man tilted his head slightly as she passed by him and got the impression that he was smiling at her for some reason. Both the men stared at her until she had closed the door behind her.

"Freaks..." She muttered.

Walking down the hall she started to think about how Naruto would act to the news, or if he would even accept, most likely he would though. Then she started thinking about the long road ahead with her new 'Adopted Kid.'

_What a joyride this will be. _The tired girl thought as she shoved her hands into her coat pockets and walked out into the cold night.

**A/N:** So I'm sorry that this took so long to come out. I've been busy with school and all that stressful stuff it comes with. I apologize again for the lack of length for this chapter, I have been stuck on it for a couple weeks and couldn't get any good idea's. But I will try and make it up too you next chapter. OH almost forgot O_O read the reviews some of you left me and thank you, it encourages me to write only more.


	3. Chapter 3: The Sweet Smell of Flowers

Naruto: Pieces  
Chapter 3: The Sweet Smell of Flowers

Naruto sat on the floor of his new home eating some Instant Ramen and watching TV. He has been living with Anko now for a couple of weeks and he had to admit, he liked it here even though Anko made him do her 'Daily Chores' which consisted of getting her favorite dangos when she asked for them, giving her back massages, take out the garbage, clean dishes, picking up around the house, washing clothes (When he first started to wash their clothes Naruto's nose trickled with blood every time he handled with Anko's lingerie. Of course Anko had planned this out from the beginning and caught a few good laughs and teased him about it by calling him Hentai-Chan, but he soon found a solution to the problem by ripping a small piece of tissue paper and sticking it up his nose to stop the bleeding.), and doing just anything she basically says to do. He felt more alike a maid most of the time than a real boy who was suppose to be out play around with friends and such but it really didn't bother him all that much, it was better than doing nothing and it kept him busy while he was alone until Anko had come back home from her missions.

While flipping through the channels and feeding himself at the same time Anko walked into the living room yawning and stretching at the same time.

"Watch ya watching twerp?" She asked as she sat down on the couch behind him.

"Nuffin." He mumbled while slurping his noodles, "There's nothing on."

They sat there for about five minutes and she watched the TV screen go through many different stations. _Click click click click _this continued on for another five minutes.

"Pick a damn channel already!"

The clicking from the remote stopped and Naruto threw the remote at her. It whizzed past her head and hit the wall with a bang. Naruto sat still, not moving an inch for he could feel that deathly glare Anko was giving him. It was like feeling an evil presence in the room. Even though you can't see it, you can feel it.

Anko got up and punched Naruto in the head, it wasn't a hard punch and nor was it a light one, but just enough so that it would hurt. Loosing his grip on his Instant Ramen it spilled onto his lap burning his legs and other areas as well.

"Ow ow ow." He moaned as he got up and danced in pain.

Anko burst into laughter and collapsed into the couch. As the pain seceded Naruto stood in front of the TV with now wet stained sweats frowning at Anko. Her outrageous laughing came to a slow with her rubbing her eyes clear of tears and heavy exhalation.

"That wasn't funny!"

"Maybe to you it wasn't." She said smirking.

Anko looked at the clock that hung in the kitchen and quickly got up.

"Damnit."

"Hm, what?" Naruto asked curiously.

"I'm late, I was supposed to meet with my team ten minutes ago." She said as she walked towards her room.

"Another mission?"

"Yup." She yelled from her room.

He could hear her swearing and cursing and rummaging through her piles of clothes she had thrown all over her room. "What kind?"

"Why do you always want to know?" She asked as she poked her head out through her doorway.

"I dunno, just wanna know." He said as he picked up some lanky noodles off of the floor.

"Well," she started as she came out of her room, "I don't even know what kind it is this time. But the Captain said he would brief us when we group up."

Naruto stopped what he was doing and starred at Anko. She was wearing a new outfit he hadn't seen her wear yet. She had on a black long sleeve shirt that was cut above her stomach so that it exposed her slim body and over that she wore a tanned color vest with a coral pink scarf that hung around her neck. On the lower part of her body she wore slops which were also black and fairly long.

"You like?" She asked as she posed for him.

Naruto blushed and looked away and went back to picking up the rest of the noodles off the floor, "Where d' you get that anyway?"

"Hmm Ive had it, just never bothered to wear it." She stated as she scanned herself.

"Why wear it now all of a sudden?"

"Thought it wouldn't hurt to wear it."

Naruto finished picking up the mess of noodles and walked towards the kitchen. "Mhm," he hummed lightly, "You sure you didn't wear it just because all of your other clothes are dirty?"

She scowled at him and put her forehead protector on, "Well if _someone_ did the laundry..." she trailed off.

Naruto froze in his tracks, he set had set himself up. Anko went to the balcony sliding door and slid it open.

"Oh and uh don't forget to do the laundry before you leave." she said as she snickered and stepped onto the balcony.

"Before _I_ leave?" He repeated.

"Oh almost forgot," she walked back into the room and grabbed a pen and a piece of paper that lay on the coffee table and scribbled down. Handing Naruto the paper she quickly made her way back to the balcony, "A friend of mine needed some help down at her shop and I happily volunteered you to help her."

"What?!"

"Ah don't get all mad you little runt we could use the extra money. Besides we cant live off of Instant Ramen forever. Those are the directions to the shop. Just tell her I sent you. Later." She closed the sliding door and disappeared in a blink of an eye.

Naruto looked down at the piece of paper and sighed, her handwriting was sloppy, but readable. Even though he liked working he didn't feel like leaving the house today for some reason. He turned the TV off and went to his room then into Anko's collecting all the dirty clothes he could find, sometimes Anko had clothes hidden under her bed, behind her bed, on the balcony, and other places he is sure had not found yet. Sometimes he wondered if she did it on purpose to give him a bad time or if she was really that careless with her stuff. After washing all her clothes with the help of his new 'Technique' saving him from nose bleeds he took a shower put on a plain white shirt and some tan colored khaki shorts and left the apartment.

-**Streets of Konoha-**

After an hour or two of wondering around aimlessly Naruto had found his way to the shop, no thanks to the villagers. He had stopped and asked for help occasionally and they would give him directions but they always sent him in the wrong way so he stopped asking after the first few times until he saw the Old Man. Naruto liked him a lot, he was one of the very few people who would stop and talk to him. Naruto stood in front of what looked like an flower shop. He looked up at the sign that hung above the door into the shop and read the words aloud, "Yamanaka Flower Shop."

The shop was a simple one, it was located in he center of the village and it stood out from amongst the other shops. The outside of the shop was painted white while in the front of the shop were rows of small vases and flowers of variety of colors sitting in rows of two or three. Making his way in into the shop the smell of all kinds of different flowers were too much for him making him sneeze.

"Bless you." Said a voice to the side of him.

He turned to his side to see a beautiful young woman with long blond hair smiling at him. She had light blue eyes and her skin was smooth as cream. Her golden hair rested on her shoulders and she had long bangs that were neatly combed to the left of her face. Naruto was caught in her state of beauty and tried to say thank you but the words wouldn't come out.

"Hey Mom, where do these new flow-"

Naruto was broken free of the state and now looked at what looked like a miniature version of the blond haired lady but only with shorter and lighter colored hair. She wore a short sleeve orange shirt that had black outlines around the sleeves that went up to the collar of the neck. Naruto was once again trapped.

The little blond's cheeks blushed slightly, "What are you staring at?!"

"Ugh..." Was all Naruto could say.

"Ugh what? Can't you talk right?"

The older lady giggled and stepped in, "You must be Naruto."

"Um, yea."

"Anko told me a lot about you." She said as she took the flowers from her daughter and put them on a shelf.

"I didn't even know Anko even had friends." He said bluntly.

"Ive known her since she was just about your age."

Naruto thought for a moment and then did the math in his head, or at least tried to, "Whoa, your pretty for an old woman." Naruto stated as he scratched his head.

The lady kept her composure but her smile weakened slightly, "Ugh wh-why thank you." She said through her closed teeth.

"Hey!" The miniature girl yelled, "You don't call a lady 'Old' especially if its my mom!" She walked up to Naruto with a closed fists.

The lady grabbed her child by the collar of her shirt stopping her from inflecting damage on the boy. "Sorry about my daughter," she said as she put her hand over the girls mouth, "She can tend to be a bit to outspoken at times."

Angry muffles could be heard as the girl continued to try and get out of her mothers grasp.

"Daughter?"

"Yes, her name is Ino."

Naruto stared dumbly at Ino then smiled, "No wonder why she is just as pretty as you." He said still smiling.

The angry muffles stopped and the once angry small little blond was quiet. Her mom released her grasp over her mouth to unveil a rosy cheeked Ino.

"I'm Naruto!" He greeted happily extending out his arm for a handshake.

"I'm Ino... Ino Yamanaka." She replied softly as she reached for his hand.

Naruto who was still smiling gleefully shook her hand.

_Why is he smiling so much?_ Wondered Ino as she departed the handshake.

"So what should I do?"

"Hm?" Hummed the older lady.

"Isn't that why I'm here?" He asked as he examined the rest of the store, "To help out or something like that."

"Um yes, yes. Hold on for one second." She said as she walked to the back of the store. Coming back out with an apron in one hand and a small shovel in the other.

"What am I doing?" He asked as he eyed the small shovel and apron.

"WE are planting flowers around the village."

"What?!"

"What you gonna cry about that now?" Spat Ino as she put on her apron.

"I don't cry." Argued Naruto.

The two continued to batter each other through out the rest of the day, challenging each other to see who could plant the most flowers, who could plant the fastest.

_These two..._ Thought Ino's mom.

It was nearing the end of the day and the three of them managed to get a lot of the work done, which surprised Ino's mom because she estimated that around this much work would of token her at least a almost a whole week to do. But thanks to their little challenges they made they were able to get two thirds of it done. She looked down at the two children who were panting heavily beside her. Dirt covered their aprons and had a few smudge here and there on their faces, legs, and arms.

"Thank you for all your had work today Naruto."

Naruto looked up to Ino's mom and wiped his face with his hand, "No problem."

She nudged against Ino's back and she got the point, "Yea thank you." She said barely audible.

"What d' you say Ino?" Asked Naruto.

She let out a large sigh and mumbled her repeated words.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you."

"I said YES THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!"

Naruto gave her his fox like looking smile in response.

"Oh Naruto, I almost forgot." Ino's mom went inside her store and came back out with an envelope, "Here." She said as she handed it to him.

Naruto took the envelope from her and wondered what was inside it.

"It's for helping me out today. You deserve it."

"Hm?" He gave her a puzzled look.

She simply smiled at him and he put the envelope in his back pocket. He waved goodbye and said he'll see Ino later. She waved back and said the same thing.

_Wait did I just say that?_ She thought to herself.

As Naruto walked off into the fading day Ino's mom looked at her daughter who stood next to her, "Looks like you made a new friend."

"Um...I guess." She said as she took off her apron

-**Anko's Apartment-**

It was four in the morning when Anko looked at the clock that hung in the kitchen. She had gotten back from her mission sooner than she thought she would of have. She had small cuts and bruises across her body, nothing fatal, though she had lost her scarf in the midst of battle. Her mission today was to track down some rouge ninja and eliminate them, it should have been easy and simple mission, and it was... well the tracking them down part was. They proved to be no push overs.

Walking into the living room where the only source of light was besides the full moon outside she turned off the TV and spotted Naruto sleeping soundly on the couch curled up into a ball in his blue pajamas. She chuckled then got a blanket and covered him up. Taking off her headband Naruto stirred a bit in his sleep. Looking at his face she could tell that he was having a nightmare. She was all too familiar with those as she experienced them almost every night since she was eight. She ran her hand through his hair softly and he slowly eased back to his normal sleep.

**A/N:** Ok so first.......Yippee for update! Second thanks for the reviews and yea my writing could use some fixing up. In the beginning I think I used the chan suffix wrong _ oops, I will edit that later and I'm sorry if going OOC on the characters. I don't mean to but I will try to fix that too. If you have any questions or suggestions leave it in the review or just message me. Thank you.


	4. Chapter 4: Unexpected Reunion

Naruto: Pieces  
Chapter 4: Unexpected Reunion

**Techniques:**

Doton no Jutsu (Earth Release Skill)  
This Jutsu allows the user to travel underground, and come back up (or pull others under) whenever he/she likes.

Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)  
A high-speed movement technique. It is described as 'appearing with the wind and disappearing like the wind.'  


* * *

Naruto stared aimlessly at the tail of the leaf that sat on his forehead, while Anko sat underneath a tree having her daily nap. He grunted impatiently and took his eyes off of the leaf and over at Anko. She had brought him here every other day after he had gotten out of school, did his homework, and his chores. Where they sat was a training area located in the woods not that far from Konoha, it was surrounded by flourishing green trees with wide open spaces and big boulders placed among various places.

_She fell asleep again? Ah this training is so boring! I don't get the point of it. I don't see why we can't do something cool like that Taijutsu stuff._ He thought as he inspected the area around him. Anko had already taught him the basics of Taijutsu only about a month ago and since then thats the only thing he's been wanting to learn, but lately shes been trying to teach him how to control his chakra. So far they haven't had that much luck.

"If you stop messing around then you'll probably get it Naruto."

Naruto shifted his head back to Anko who was still sitting underneath the tree with her eyes closed. "Am I hearing things?"

"No you dumb ass !," yelled Anko who's eyes were now wide open with her arms crossed, "Do you need me to repeat the steps again?"

Naruto took the leaf off of his forehead and waved it angrily in the air, "I get what I have to do but I don't get the point of it! I mean whats a leaf got to do with training if all I do is stare at it?"

Anko sighed furiously, "Do you not pay attention in school?"

"Well...uhm...yea...sometimes..." He muttered as he tried to avoid contact with her eyes.

"Oh thats a surprise," she said sarcastically. The Hokage had told her that Naruto had failed the graduation exam twice and that while she watched over him that he wanted her to help him out with his problems. So far the major problem with him was controlling his chakra, she would address the lesser problems later on so that she could get this out of the way, "We need to get you to learn how to concentrate better and this is just one of many steps to do so."

"Concentrate for what?"

"So that you can learn how to build up your chakra right! Ive only said this about ten times before and after we got here. Have you not been listening to me?"

"Yea."

"Well then put that leaf back on your forehead, sit down or lay back or whatever the hell you want to do and don't think about anything except for that leaf!"

Naruto growled and did as she said, "I still don't get the point..."

Anko's eye twitched at his remark and picked up a pebble that lay next to her and through it Naruto hitting him square in the side of the head making him yelp in pain.

"What was that for!" he yelled, his eyes slowly watering up.

"For not listening to me."

"I was listening," he said as he rubbed the pain away from his head, "I just didn't get it."

"Ok then make me a clone."

"Why?"

"Just do it. Then ill explain."

Picking himself up from the ground he got into his stance then made the first hand sign then followed through with the rest.

"Bunshin no jutsu!"

There was cloud of thick white smoke that appeared next to Naruto and as it dissipated a pale figure lay on the floor. Anko immediately busted into tears of laughter. It was basically another Naruto but the only difference was that it looked like a pale ghostly white figure.

"What the hell is that?" she managed to get out in between laughs.

"It's the best I can do." He said in disappointment.

"Well see theres your problem," she stated as she wiped her eyes of her tears, " Your guessing at the amount of chakra you have to put into the jutsu and that will in most cases," she said as she pointed at the lifeless copy of him, "Will end up like that." She got up from underneath the tree and walked over to Naruto who was starring at the grass in discontent. "Doing this first step of the training will help you hone in on your concentration allowing to you draw upon maximum power whenever you want and by how much you want. Each jutsu takes a certain amount of chakra, some more than others. So you get it now twerp?"

"Hmm yea I guess."

"Ok so," she started as she bent down and picked up a leaf off the ground and poked him in the forehead with it, "So lets start over," She said smiling at him, " So you can get this down and finally maybe pass the graduation exam."

"How d' you know?"

"How d' I know about what?" She replied back pretending to not know what he was talking about.

"How did you know that I failed the exam?"

"I have my ways." She said as she ruffed his hair, "Now sit down and don't think about anything but that leaf. And I mean NOTHING but that leaf, not about my bra's or underwear..."

Naruto's cheeks rapidly blushed and was quick to argue with her, "Why would I think of that?!" he protested.

"I know how your perverted men's minds think. Now sit!"

Naruto complied and sat down mumbling to himself until she had yelled a him to be quiet.

"Good boy." She said as she grinned.

A few hours later and Naruto had done what he was told to do. He could start to feel something building up in his forehead where the leaf sat.

_Clear mind. Think nothing but the leaf. Picture the leaf. Leaf, leaf, leaf, leaf._ He recited in his mind. Then something happened, the leaf moved slightly but he didn't think much of it as he thought it was just the wind that caused it to move.

_Ahh screw this, I have been sitting here for hours and nothing has even happened yet. _He _g_ot up quietly enough so that he wouldn't wake Anko who was talking in her sleep about an all you can eat buffet that served Sweet Bean Soup, Dumplings, and Dango's. Drool slid down from the side of her mouth as she slept in peace. As he crept silently away from the training area he made his way around the woods. Climbing tree's chasing squirrels and such.

Sitting on a branch as still as the tree itself Naruto preyed on a squirrel that was enjoying a nut it had found on a few branches above him. Moving slowly he climbed up the tree to another branch and got into a leaping position. The squirrel turned around to see Naruto about to pounce on him and he through his nut as hard as his tiny little arms could. It bounced of Naruto's forehead as he leapt for the small fury creature only to catch air and landing on the branch with one foot. Looking around for the squirrel he spotted it... flying? To another tree. This threw him off balance and made him fall from the tree to ground.

"What the hell, did that thing throw its nut at me?" he looked up to see the squirrel floating down from above and land on a mans hair that sat still, undisturbed by the presence of the fury friend, "A flying squirrel?"

The man with the white spiky hair sat up against what looked like a memorial stone to Naruto reading a book. He wore a black mask that concealed the lower half of his face, which Naruto thought was a bit weird, but cool at the same time.

"I think the scientifically known term is, Petauristini." Said a voice.

"Huh?" Naruto looked around to see no one but the masked man and the squirrel who was still sitting in his hair. "I think I'm hearing things again." Scratching his head the voice spoke again, this time he could tell were it was coming from but the mans mouth wasn't moving on account of because of his mask but it should of moved too when he talked thought Naruto as he walked over to him.

"But I like to call him Momo." The masked man said as he reached into his pouch and pulled out a single nut and gave it to his furry friend not taking his eyes off of the book the entire time he did this.

Naruto starred awkwardly at the man as the squirrel 'Momo' disappeared into the man's hair. He started to wonder if the thing lived in his hair and thought that it wasn't very sanitary to have a squirrel living in your hair.

"You know that thing is in your hair mister."

Taking one hand off of his book he dug his hand around his hair searching for Momo and pulled him out and held him in front of his face. "How many times have I told you to not do that?"

_Is he talking to that thing?_ Thought Naruto as he continued to watch the masked man talk to the squirrel, _This _guy_ is crazy._

He set the squirrel down and it ran to Naruto and climbed up his leg to his shoulder where promptly sat himself while he ate his nut. Naruto gave Momo an evil look.

"He's harmless." Said the mask man as he shut his book, "Your name is Naruto Uzumaki right?"

"Uh, yea, how'd you know that?" He asked, interested in how the man he had never met before knew his full name.

"Lets just say that you aren't the most popular kid in the village."

Naruto's facial expression turned to sadness as he knew what the man was saying. He knew how most of village disliked him, but he never or understood knew why they did. He turned his frown into a happy smile, "Anko-san always says to not worry about people like that, she says they are just stubborn and some other stuff."

"Other stuff?"

"Yea she likes to curse a lot."

The masked man chuckled, "Seems like she cares for you a lot."

"Hmm I guess."

"You think of her as your mom?"

"What?!" Naruto laughed loudly, "No. She's always beating me up and pestering me and stuff."

"Maybe thats just her way of showing affection to you."

"Ya well I don't think a mom goes around hitting their children for no reason and making fun of them."

"You'll understand soon when you grow up."

"Understand what?"

The mans one eye closed and Naruto could only simply guess that he was smiling underneath his mask. He motioned to Momo to come over and the squirrel jumped off of Naruto's shoulder and ran over to the masked mans shoulder. He turned his back on Naruto and started to walk away.

_He looks just like you... Sensei. _Thought the masked man as he walked away.

Naruto watched as the masked man walked away and then turned his attention to the stone where he was once sitting. There were a pair of goggles and a bundle of flowers that lay next to the stone. He silently read the stone to himself.

_**To those who gave their life in the line of duty.**_

_**Although no sculptured marble should rise to their memory, nor engraved stone bear record of their deeds, yet their remembrance will be as lasting as the land they had honored. ~Daniel Webster**__**.**_

_**Minato Namikaze( Konoha's Yellow Flash)**_

_**Obito Uchiha**_

_**…......**_

He only read bits and pieces of the stone until he lost interest in it. Looking at the goggles that lay still, he picked them up and examined them. They had an orange tint to them and what looked like ear muffs on the sides. In a simple way he sort of adored them and started to think about getting a pair of his own. He decided that he would later ask Anko to give him some money so he could go out to the village and buy a pair of his own but a different color.

Making his way back to the training grounds some where along the walk he made a wrong turn. Looking at his surroundings he knew that he was lost. He tried to find his way back but everywhere around him were tree's. Tree's thats look like other tree's. Big tree's, small tree's, bushes. Eventually he found it useless to walk anywhere as he was just probably walking in circles. He sat on an tree stump that looked like it had been slashed in half. Figuring that if he just sat in one spot that Anko would find him easier than him walking around cluelessly. After about ten minutes of sitting there his stomach growled.

"I haven't ate since this morning, and it wasn't even a big meal." He morned.

The last time he ate a big meal Anko had took him out to the training spot and taught him some Taijutsu. He learned his lesson to not eat a heavy meal like that before training again.

"We have the bounty."

"Hm?" Naruto looked around but saw no one in sight, "Whats with me today, I keep thinking I'm hearing people when there isn't even anyone around me. I think all those blows to the head are finally getting to me." He said as he rubbed his head.

"Yes, ten million ryu."

"There it is again." Siting up from the stump he walked towards the source of the voice. As he walked nearer to the voices they became more hear able. They were talking about what seemed like a bounty thing. There were two of them, both in black coats which had red cloud patterns and both also wore straw hats. Only one did the talking, but it didn't look like he was talking to the other man who was noticeably shorter than the other one. Next to the taller man an old man laid on the floor, either unconscious or dead.

"Yes.......Understood. Ah that guy, he's such a _pain_."

"He has his reasons." The shorter man said. "Isn't your old village the one hidden in the leaves around here?"  
"Hm, yes. It's been a long time since I've seen it. One day I will come back and destroy it and its prominent Hokage." Replied the fairly taller man who was snickering.

Naruto was shocked to hear this news, "The Old Man?" He whispered.

"Hmm?"

"It would seem we have a visitor."

Suddenly the taller man disappeared in an instant and Naruto felt cold air crawl up his back.

"Well well look at what we have here."

Naruto shocked to hear were the voice came from turned around to see the man standing behind him. He grabbed Naruto by the throat and picked him up.

"I'm guessing you must be a little Konoha brat." The man said as he smiled devilishly.

The shorter man appeared beside the taller one, "It's just a kid." He said plainly not really caring for him.

"What should we do hmm?"

"If he is from Konoha we should leave quickly, we don't want to try and start anything so soon with them."

Naruto tried to wiggle out of his holders grip, but found it helpless.

"Oh I'll make it quick." He said as he licked his lips.

Anko awoke up from her nap and wiped her mouth of her drool.

"That was a nice dream." She said as she yawned. "You get it this time Nar-" Finding herself to be talking to no one, she looked around for Naruto.

"Naruto!"

She had been yelling out his name for about the past ten minutes and cursing at him to come out and stop playing and that if he didn't she would kick his ass. But no Naruto.

"Where is that kid?" She asked herself as she walked around the woods. "I wonder if he went home." Turning back to go to the village she heard faint screaming. At first she shrugged it off until the screaming didn't stop. She listened closely to the screaming and finally matched it.

"Naruto!" She yelled as she began running, "I need to move faster damn it. Shunshin no Jutsu!" Disappearing with the wind she quickened her haste.

In minutes she arrived to spot where she had thought the screams originated from. She stood on a branch some feet away where the two black coated figures stood. One of them held Naruto up against a tree while the other watched.

"You bastards." Cursed Anko as she took out a kunai with an exploding tag wrapped around it. She would have to split both of them apart since she didn't know the level of the two mysterious black coated people and she didn't want to go head in into the fight now knowing what they were both capable of. Creating two shadow clones she sent one underground with her Doton no Jutsu technique. The one that went underground was in place and the other clone was in place as well. Both the clones acted on the same time, the one underground was underneath the smaller man and grabbed his feet and pulled him underground.

While the other clone appeared behind the taller man with a kunai at his throat.

"If I were you I would let that boy go." Anko whispered in the mans ear as she brought the kunai closer against his throat.

The man snickered and dropped Naruto, "This should be fun." Anko lost grip on her holder as his body turned to mud. Naruto lay half awake on the floor watching the scenario play out in front of him.

"Anko?" he uttered out faintly.

"Hey kid. How ya holding up?"

His face was a bloody pulp, he had cutes and what looked like burn marks across his body. "I'm alright." He said forcing himself a smile. His left eye opened in terror, "Behind you!"

A sword went through Anko's stomach and she dropped her kunai. It made a clanking noise at it hit the dirt.

"Anko." Naruto whispered.

Naruto blinked with his one eye, the other was swelled up so bad that he couldn't open it, a single tear dropped and ran down his bloody cheek. The body in front if him smiled and spoke, "Don't worry twerp." and it poofed into smoke.

"A shadow clone." The man said as the sword recontacted back into the snakes mouth and in turn returning into his. A loud thunk landed next to him but he couldn't see what it was with all the smoke around him. As the smoke cleared he noticed a red tag sticking up from the ground. "An explo-"

The tag went off and there was a huge explosion of flames mixed with dust. Naruto opened his eyes to see Anko carrying him away from the explosion.

"Anko!"

"Hm?"

"I thought..." he sniffled, "You were dead."

"Heh I'm not gonna die _that_ easily." She said as she stopped running and put him down against a tree.

"I think you got him." said Naruto as he looked back at the explosion.

"Probably, but I doubt it." She said as she reached into her pouch. "The tall one he-"

She was cut off by the hissing of snakes that shot out from the tree above them. Anko jumped back as the snakes shot down towards her and chased her. Jumping in the air she made quickly made hand seals and breathed fire at the pursuing snakes. They burnt to crisps and the ashes were blown away by the wind.

"This technique, Its gotta be him." Caught off guard a snake she didn't see before came up from under the ground and wrapped itself around her leg as another snake did the same. They bit her leg as she cut them free.

"Shit." She panted heavily as she looked at the ground where a puddle of mud lay. "I know it's you."

The mud rose from the ground and took shape of the tall man in the black coat, "I have to say, I'm quite disappointed in you...Anko. I was expecting more from _you_."

Anko grinned, "Don't underestimate me..." The man laughed and took off his straw hat, "Orochimaru."

**A/N:** So yup, dun dun dun! The fastest update yet I think. If you watch Samurai Champloo then you would probably know who the squirrel is I thought i'd just throw him in there. Enjoy....or not... but please do.


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